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 in Fridays BUL-sprint in Oslo.</p>
<p>-The final was raced at top speed, underlines Skjonnsfjell.</p>
<p>He is pointing to the fact that Solbakken beat skiers like Johan Kjolstad, Trond Iversen and John Kristian Dahl in the finale. Havard Bjerkeli and Borre Naess were beaten out in the previous heats.</p>
<p>– This is the only possibility that the non-national team skiers have had to compete against the national team. Selection should be based upon results in races, not based upon training in September and October, says Skjonnsfjell.</p>
<p>A wasted expensive trip</p>
<p>Getting this chance was the incentive for the elite team from Northern Norway choosing to travel south to race the BUL Sprinten. The coach also says that Sigrid Aas, who was a two-time NCAA Champion in 2004 for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, should have been considered for the women’s World Cup team.</p>
<p>– Sigrid beat Guro Strom Solli in the prolog and was barely beaten in the final. Strom Sollie is a good sprinter, and Aas has previously proven that she can capture World Cup points, says Skjonnfjell. </p>
<p>He is underlining that the Norwegian Skifederation is doing lots of things well, but would like to see that it was easier for non-national team skiers to qualify for World Cup races.</p>
<p>– National team skiers should not be automatically selected ahead of other skiers, says Skjonnsfjell.</p>
<p>Aiming for Nove Mesto</p>
<p>Solbakken now has to ski fast in Norway Cup and Scandinavian Cup in order to qualify for late December World Cup. He might get a chance to race in Nove Mesto if he continues to ski fast.</p>
<p>– National team sprint coach Aune, said that I would get to race in Nove Mesto if I had ten fingers and ten toes, said Havard Solbakken.</p>
<p>Solbakken has a World Championship bronze medal from the 2001 Worlds and has focused on freestyle sprint racing this season. He is hoping that a good result in Nove Mesto will qualify him for the Olympic team.</p>
<p>You need World Cup results in order to make the Olympic team and his chances were reduced by 50% by not being selected to race in Canada, said Skjonnsfjell.</p>
<p>The freestyle sprint at the Norwegian Championship in January might also count toward the Olympic selection.</p>
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FasterSkierDecember 1, 2005 FasterSkierDecember 1, 2005
